West Chester students study computer code

WEST CHESTER – Middle school students in the West Chester Area School District were just a few of more than 1.5 million students from across 141 countries to participate in Computer Science Education Week.

From Dec. 9 through Dec. 15, students are participating in the worldwide initiative called the “Hour of Code,” which is designed to expose students to computer programming.

According to the Computer Science Education Week website, the initiative is “a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify “code” and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, creator and innovator.

“It’s quite engaging,” said Ian Kerr, district math supervisor. “It’s not about teaching to mastery, but piquing the interest of more students to realize that it’s not as difficult as many people believe and that programming is actually fun.”

Advertisement

According to district administration, because the world economy is driven by technology, students who graduate with a working knowledge of computer science find themselves ahead of the curve not only in post-graduate education, but also in the workforce.

The district pointed out statistics that include: less than 2.4 percent of college students graduate with a Computer Science degree, creating a lack of potential employees; 90 percent of American schools do not offer computer science courses; computer programming jobs are growing three times faster than the number of graduates entering the field; and more than 50 percent of all math and science jobs are for computer scientists.

District students are exploring coding during the event. The district said: “Hour of Code tutorials will not only provide the opportunity for students in grades 6-8 to explore coding, but will also expose students to higher order thinking and inspire them to consider enrolling in high school computer science classes.”